France | HCRW

France regularly reports hate crime data to ODIHR. Since 2012, DILCRAH has served as an inter-ministerial body and platform for co-operation to address hate crime, including through research and financial support to civil society organizations (CSOs). DILCRAH has worked with CSOs to train police and create a network of specialized investigators on hate crime. The Central Office for Combating Crimes against Humanity and Hate Crimes (OCLCH) is an inter-agency body composed of police officers and gendarmes that is mandated to expedite hate crime investigations and monitor and analyse relevant developments. Hate crime data are regularly published by the National Institution for Human Rights. France conducts regular surveys on hate crime victimization to measure unreported hate crimes.

SELECT YEAR

Download the 2015 hate crime report for France

OFFICIAL DATA REPORTED BY STATES

Year	Hate crimes recorded by police	Prosecuted	Sentenced
2022	3,807	469	355
2021	3,443	486	425
2020	2672	-	-
2019	2640	-	-
2018	1838	-	252
2017	1505	Not available	255
2016	1835	Not available	583
2015	1790	Not available	Not available
2014	1662	Not available	554
2013	1765	579	Not available
2012	2357	604	550
2011	Not available	Not available	431
2010	2	Not available	562
2009	Not available	Not available	579

About 2015 Data

The figure presented here includes 244 incidents of discrimination, defamation and public insults. These categories fall outside of the OSCE concept of hate crimes and are therefore not included in the breakdown by type of crime below.

Download official data

National developments

In the framework of the "Action Plan against Racism and Anti-Semitism 2015-2017," a circular was published on 4 December 2015. This circular instructed prosecutors to request sentences that include an educational component as part of perpetrator's sentences.

KEY OBSERVATION

ODIHR observes that France has met most OSCE commitments on hate crime data collection and reporting. ODIHR further observes that data on certain OSCE-mandated bias motivations have not been reported.

INCIDENTS REPORTED BY CIVIL SOCIETY

Total Incidents
Targeted properties
Type of property attacks

Incidents reported by civil society, international organizations and the Holy See

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Reports

Racist and xenophobic hate crime

LICRA reported 14 physical assaults, including one perpetrated by a group and one that involved the use a knife; two threats; two incidents of damage to property; one theft and three cases of vandalism. The European Centre for Democracy Development reported one physical assault. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reported one threat.

Anti-Semitic hate crime

The European Centre for Democracy Development, the Jewish Community Protection Service (SPCJ), the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Kantor Centre reported one incident in which four people were murdered and 25 held hostage in a kosher supermarket. The SPCJ and the ADL reported one physical assault, in which a man was stabbed.

Anti-Muslim hate crime

The Association against Islamophobia in France (CCIF) and the Organization Racism Islamophobia Watch (ORIW) reported one murder, one physical assault, three arson attacks, one incident of vandalism, three cases of damage to property and one case of the desecration of graves. The CCIF and ENAR reported three additional physical assaults.

The CCIF also reported 33 physical assaults, three attempted physical assaults, five arson attacks, two attempted arson attacks, 26 incidents of vandalism, six cases of damage to property, four threats and ten incidents of the desecration of graves.

Hate crime against Christians and members of other religions

Jehovah’s Witnesses – France reported four physical assaults; four incidents of damage to property against places of worship; 12 incidents vandalism, including nine with graffiti; two incidents of the desecration of graves; and one threat.

The Holy See reported one incident of physical assault, which was also reported by the Observatory of Christianophobia (OC). The Holy See also reported 22 incidents of vandalism, including 21 reported by the OC and eight reported by the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDC); seven incidents of graffiti, six of which were also reported by the OC and two also reported by the OIDC.

The Holy See reported an additional 27 thefts, 21 of which were reported by the OC and five reported by the OIDC; five incidents of the desecration of churches, of which the OC reported on four and the OIDC one; 30 incidents of the desecration of graves, including five reported by the OIDC; two incidents of damage to property; 15 incidents of actual or attempted arson, of which the OC reported 14 and the OIDC six; one threat; and four incidents of hacking.

INTERNATIONAL REPORTS

Racist and xenophobic hate crime, Anti-Roma hate crime, Anti-LGBTI hate crime, Disability hate crime

In its fifth report on France, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) recommended amendments to the Criminal Code to include racist, homophobic and transphobic motivations as aggravating circumstances in criminal offences. ECRI also recommended that the authorities establish partnerships with civil society organizations working with Roma communities and people with disabilities to overcome under-reporting and to ensure that hate crime data-collection systems allow the disaggregation of data and the tracking of cases through the criminal justice system.